1. Technical Field
This invention relates to vehicle safety systems and, more particularly, to a child seat safety system for vehicles for notifying a caregiver whether a child is seated in a car seat during unattended time intervals.
2. Prior Art
It seems that every summer there are news reports of children dying when they are left behind in a closed vehicle. If a baby or toddler is inadvertently or purposefully left in a vehicle, the child can quickly be in danger of serious heat-related problems. Even if the vehicle's windows are cracked open, the vehicle is parked in the shade, and the outside temperature seems temperate to an adult, the interior temperature of the vehicle can quickly become unbearable to a child trapped therein. Tragically, some well-meaning but stressed and busy parents forget to remove their sleeping infant or toddler from the car and the child succumbs to the heat.
In response to this dilemma, a number of child car seat safety systems have been introduced to the prior art in an attempt to prevent such tragedy. Although such systems are adequate in their designated purpose, they still have many shortcomings. One disadvantage of many such systems is the fact that they do not provide a portable notification means that can be carried by and notify a parent of an unattended child left in a vehicle. Other systems are caused to activate the notification means when the driver's door is opened and a child is still present in their child safety seat. Such a method of activation can become annoying as one tends to open the driver's door occasionally for a variety of reasons other than to leave the car. Unfortunately, this may lead to the user deactivating the system in order to prevent the annoying siren from sounding all the time.
Accordingly, a need remains for a child seat safety system for vehicles in order to overcome the above-noted shortcomings. The present invention satisfies such a need by providing a child seat safety system for vehicles that is easy to use, provides peace of mind to parents, and achieves increased safety for babies and toddlers. Such a system advantageously reminds a driver when a child is left unattended in a car seat when the driver leaves and moves out of the proximity of the seat sensor. This conveniently ensures that a tendency for busy parents to be forgetful does not result in the death of their child.